Written Answers Thursday 29 May 2008

Scottish Executive

Access for Disabled People

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve passenger access to railway stations.

Stewart Stevenson: Disabled access is a matter which is reserved to Westminster. The Department for Transport’s Access for All programme is investing £370 million in stations throughout the UK over a 10 year period. Scotland’s share of this investment is £39 million.

  There are also a number of on-going access improvements being made to a range of Scottish railway stations that are being delivered by First ScotRail as part of their Franchise Agreement. All new stations or those undergoing major redevelopment, such as Aberdeen, are legally obliged to be Disability Discrimination Act compliant.

Alcohol Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12896 by Kenny MacAskill on 20 May 2008, when the information on the number of persons proceeded against for selling alcohol to persons under 18 in Courts in the Lothians, by approximate local authority area, will be available for 2006-07.

Kenny MacAskill: The information will be available after the Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts 2006-07 statistical bulletin is published, which has been pre-announced for release on 3 June 2008.

Breastfeeding

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage breastfeeding.

Shona Robison: We recognise the importance of breastfeeding and have provided NHS boards with a HEAT target to assist them in increasing the number of babies who are exclusively breastfed.

  We have recruited an Infant Nutrition Co-ordinator for Scotland, who will work on the development of an infant nutrition strategy for Scotland. Part of this work will focus on the promotion of breastfeeding as key to ensuring optimal nutrition for infants.

Children's Hearing System

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals to the children’s hearing system in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus were on the grounds of misused drugs or alcohol in the last three years for which information is available.

Adam Ingram: Referrals to the Reporter under Section 52(2)(j) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (i.e. "has misused alcohol or any drug, whether or not a controlled drug within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971"):

  

 
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Dundee
 20
 37
 27


 Angus
<5
<5
<5



  Source: Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.

  Notes:

  These figures relate to referrals received by the Children’s Reporter and not to the numbers of children referred.

  Years run from 1 April to 31 March.

Climate Change

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the criteria for eligibility for support from the Climate Challenge Fund and whether local sports clubs, local branches of national NGOs, local projects run by charities and community partnerships with national NGOs will be eligible to apply.

Richard Lochhead: The Climate Challenge Fund is due to be opened in the coming weeks by ministers, when guidance and the full details of eligibility for communities wishing to apply for the fund will be announced. Primarily the fund will be open to local voluntary, not-for-profit and charitable organisations wishing to reduce their carbon footprint. These local groups may also apply in partnership with a range of local, regional or national organisations. The fund of £18.8 million over three years is designed to enable communities to come forward with their own solutions to make a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

Council Tax

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many higher education students in (a) full-time and (b) part-time education are paying council tax.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many further education students in (a) full-time and (b) part-time education are paying council tax.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many night class students are paying council tax.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many distance learning students are paying council tax.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Open University students are paying council tax.

John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally.

Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will monitor the Criminal Proceedings (Reform) Act 2007 in relation to the new fiscal fine powers contained in the Act.

Kenny MacAskill: A comprehensive programme of work has been put in place to ensure that the impact of the reforms to summary justice will be effectively monitored and evaluated. This work will encompass the new fiscal fine measures contained in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007.

Culture

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list any national indicators and targets that relate to support for the arts by local authorities.

Linda Fabiani: The national outcomes, indicators and targets are listed in Annex A of the concordat between the Scottish Government and local government, which can be found on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/11/13092240/concordat .

  Locally developed outcomes, indicators and targets aligned to the published national outcomes, indicators and targets will form the basis of individual single outcome agreements (SOAs) for councils in Scotland. We are currently in the process of agreeing the SOAs for 2008-09 with all 32 councils. It would not be appropriate at this stage of the process to comment on specific areas of focus within individual agreements, but we expect SOAs to reflect the priorities and agreed outcomes for each council and to include the relevant supporting indicators and targets. We aim to complete this process by 30 June 2008 and, subject to agreement with councils, all finalised agreements will be made publically available shortly thereafter.

Emergency Services

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated fuel costs are for the (a) police, (b) ambulance and (c) fire service for (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally for the police or fire service. The following estimated fuel costs for the Scottish Ambulance Service are based on forecasts.

  

 2008-09
£6.072 million


 2009-10
£6.638 million


 2010-11
£6.970 million

Emergency Services

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the fuel costs have been for the (a) police, (b) ambulance and (c) fire service in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally for the police or fire service. Fuel costs for the Scottish Ambulance Service in each year since 1999 are shown in the following table.

  

 
£000


 1998-99
 2,849


 1999-2000
 3,209


 2000-01
 3,376


 2001-02
 3,306


 2002-03
 3,372


 2003-04
 3,925


 2004-05
 4,240


 2005-06
 4,994


 2006-07
 5,157


 2007-08
 5,611

External Relations

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the next meeting of the Scotland-Malawi Joint Commission will be held and who will attend.

Linda Fabiani: It has been agreed that the next Joint Commission Review Meeting will take place in Malawi and will be attended by officials from the Scottish Government and representatives from the Government of Malawi.

  Officials are in the process of identifying potential dates and timings with the Government of Malawi.

External Relations

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the remit for its current review of the International Development Fund projects in Malawi.

Linda Fabiani: It is now published on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/International-Relations/internationaldevelopment/internationaldevelopmentp.

External Relations

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will provide to Scottish Language Dictionaries when funding from the Scottish Arts Council is discontinued at the end of 2008-09.

Linda Fabiani: I have recently commissioned an audit of the measures that are currently in place to promote the Scots language and what opportunities exist to make further progress. The Scottish Government’s future funding priorities for Scots provision will be considered within the context of this audit and its outcome and I will, at that stage, examine how we can assist this extremely important sector of Scottish culture.

External Relations

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the new International Development Fund is allocated specically to the Malawi Development Programme for each of the next three years.

Linda Fabiani: As announced on 23 August 2007 and confirmed in the international development policy launched on 7 May 2008, at least £3 million per year is ringfenced for Malawi: representing at least 50% in 2008-09, 50% in 2009-10, and 33% in 2010-11 of the total International Development Fund.

External Relations

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for applications for the Sub-Saharan Africa Development Programme within the International Development Fund.

Linda Fabiani: The funding criteria for applications for the Sub-Saharan Africa Development Programme will be discussed with the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland next week. Once agreed, full details will be published on the Scottish Government website.

External Relations

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for applications for the Indian Subcontinent Development Programme within the International Development Fund.

Linda Fabiani: We have not made final decisions on specific countries or allocated specific funding to this programme at this stage. Over the coming months officials will meet with key stakeholders to develop the programme and consider relevant funding mechanisms.

  Full details of funding criteria for the Indian Subcontinent Development Programme will be published on the Scottish Government website.

External Relations

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for funding the Scotland-Malawi Partnership centrally in each of the next three years.

Linda Fabiani: I announced core funding for the Scotland-Malawi Partnership for the next three financial years on Tuesday 27 May 2008. The new core funding totals £158,387: £48,690 in 2008-09; £59,102 in 2009-10, and £50,595 in 2010-11.

External Relations

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in Scotland have links with schools in Malawi.

Linda Fabiani: A list of school to school links between Scotland and Malawi is held and updated by the Scotland-Malawi Partnership. At the end of April 2008 there were 154 schools on that list.

Ferry Services

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what current ferry user discounts will cease on the road equivalent tariff pilot routes.

Stewart Stevenson: All existing discount arrangements, except for the national concessionary schemes for young persons, older and disabled islanders and the 10% discount on the overnight freight service between Ullapool and Stornoway, will cease on the road equivalent tariff (RET) pilot routes.

  Where necessary, arrangements will be put in place to ensure no existing user is disadvantaged by the introduction of RET.

Health

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to assess the impact of any changes to the health visitor service on GP practices.

Shona Robison: We will monitor changes to NHS Board Health Visitor Services carefully. NHS boards are under a duty to ensure that patients receive immunisation services and we would not expect patient services to suffer.

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether training in clinical care takes priority over training in health promotion and protecting the public in the community health nurse pilot scheme.

Nicola Sturgeon: Community nurses who take part in the Community Health Nurse pilots will undertake training to enable them to be competent in the new role which will cover all of these areas.

Higher Education Funding

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the level of funding support for drama courses, in view of funding shortfalls for such courses at Queen Margaret University and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Fiona Hyslop: Any review of the level of funding support for drama courses is a matter for the Scottish Funding Council to take forward in discussion with the institutions concerned, namely Queen Margaret University and the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama.

  Therefore this Government warmly welcomes the announcement by the Scottish Funding Council that it will undertake a review of the funding of drama provision across Scotland.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8959 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008, why information on custody limits is not deemed relevant information for the Scottish Government.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8959 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008, whether statistics on custody time limits are held by any other government department and, if so, by whom.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the grounds for extending custody limits safeguard the rights of the accused not to be held beyond 140 days.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring has been carried out to ensure that the 140-day custody time limit has been safeguarded.

Kenny MacAskill: The 140 day custody time limit in High Court cases can only be extended by the court, on cause shown, having given all parties an opportunity to be heard. The Scottish Government is satisfied that this arrangement safeguards the rights of the accused, as was Parliament when passing the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2004. In any case in which an extension of the period is sought, the decision is entirely one for the court.

  The evaluation of the High Court reforms published in February 2007 suggested that the proportion of cases in which an extension had been granted was remaining more or less constant following the amendments introduced by the 2004 act. Further information is given on pages 38-39 of An Evaluation of the High Court Reforms Arising from the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2004, published by the Scottish Executive in 2007, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42119).

  Scottish Court Service is able to confirm that the number of successful applications for extension of the 140 day period in 2007 was 487, but does not hold the information in the answer to question S3W-8959 on 4 February 2008. The 2007 evaluation referred to above found, in a sample, that the average length of extension after the reforms was 46 days. The average period, in a sample of cases, predating the reform was 57 days. These decisions are of course made by the courts on the merits of the individual case.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Justice

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to implement the recommendations on disclosure contained in Review of the Law and Practice of Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings in Scotland .

Kenny MacAskill: As the Scottish Government announced on 29 April 2008, we will in the near future bring forward legislation to deliver the review’s recommendations on disclosure.

Kinship Care

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12318 by Adam Ingram on 6 May 2008, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the effectiveness of the new kinship care allowance, given that information regarding the number receiving payments on 30 November 2007 is not held centrally.

Adam Ingram: Progress against each of the commitments in the concordat will be reported annually by COSLA at the end of each financial year.

Listed Buildings

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many listed buildings have had demolition orders served on them in the past 12 months.

Linda Fabiani: Demolition orders on listed buildings can be issued by local authorities in their capacity as the Building Control authority and on this basis, no information on the subject is held centrally. Historic Scotland has no formal role in such orders but in practice will often be consulted by local authorities before demolition takes place.

  Listed building consent is also required for the demolition of a listed building and, as with building control matters, is dealt with by local authorities. Historic Scotland does have a statutory role in this process and must be notified by the local authority before such consents can be issued.

  In addition, the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments for Scotland must be notified when listed building consent is granted for the demolition of a listed building in order that the commission may make arrangements for the building to be recorded before works commence.

Maternity Services

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the provision of a second scan for women in the 20th week of pregnancy.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government supports the provision of a second scan for women in the 20th week of pregnancy and we are working closely with the NHS, to ensure that this is delivered in those boards where it is not currently routine.

Mental Health

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving to the findings of the UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life in formulating its future strategy for promoting mental health in Scotland.

Shona Robison: NHS Health Scotland has been fully engaged with the Mental Health Foundation and Age Concern Scotland throughout the work of the Inquiry. Since its publication, NHS Health Scotland has supported local activities designed to disseminate its findings, encourage the engagement and involvement of older people, and take forward the development of local actions to promote mental health and wellbeing in later life.

Modern Apprenticeships

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 67,500 training places referred to in Skills Development Scotland’s Operating Plan 2008-2009 will be for (a) Modern Apprenticeships, (b) adult apprenticeships, (c) Skillseekers training programmes and (d) Ready for Work training programmes.

Fiona Hyslop: This is an operational matter for Skills Development Scotland. In partnership with Skills Development Scotland and other bodies we are delivering an approach to skills development which will meet the challenges Scotland faces now and in the future. This must be an approach that is not volume focussed or target driven but focuses on better matching supply and demand of skills interventions to maximise potential economic growth.

Modern Apprenticeships

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has cut funding for adult Modern Apprenticeships in sectors other than construction, engineering and life sciences.

Fiona Hyslop: The changes announced to the Modern Apprenticeship programme ensures that public investments supports the Government Economic Strategy. We have committed to target new support for MA 20+ to construction, engineering and related sector, where we know our investment delivers results.

  Evidence from an evaluation on Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland carried out by Cambridge Policy Consultants showed that many non-traditional frameworks used by adults involve little added learning and therefore do not deliver value for money.

  The Scottish Government’s significant investment in individual learning accounts, our colleges and higher education institutions, information, advice and guidance services and student support will support the on-going development of Scotland’s skills base.

Modern Apprenticeships

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact its withdrawal of funding for many adult modern apprenticeships will have on training providers.

Fiona Hyslop: Skills Development Scotland continues to work with training providers to ensure that no individual already undertaking training is adversely affected by the recent changes.

  We recognise that this change in approach will have the greatest impact on a small number of training providers who have traditionally received the majority of their income from public subsidy. However, early indications show that they are already seeking alternative forms of income rather than simply relying on public funding as their primary income source.

  Public investment must support the provision of the best training for individuals in Scotland. This will continue to provide many training providers with opportunities to work with the government in the delivery of its skills ambitions.

NHS Staff

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in resolving outstanding issues related to out-of-hours, shift and on-call payments as part of the Agenda for Change.

Nicola Sturgeon: Remuneration arrangements for "out-of-hours" and "shift work" have been taken forward under the heading "unsocial hours". New arrangements have now been agreed and have been set out in a redrafted Section 2 of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions entitled "Maintaining Round the Clock Services".

  The new arrangements have not been implemented for the Scottish Ambulance Service where discussions involving employers, unions and the Scottish Government are on-going at present. It is hoped that agreement will be reached soon.

  With regard to remuneration for staff with "on call" commitments, UK partnership discussions on what arrangements should be put in place are on-going with the aim of reaching agreement on proposals for a new system which can be implemented from 1 April 2010. I can confirm that separate talks are being held with the Scottish Ambulance Service, but these are currently at a very early stage, clearly the next stage would be to enter into negotiations with unions.

NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how community nurses will work with condition-specific nurse specialists in the community health nurse pilot in NHS Tayside.

Nicola Sturgeon: Nurses working in community settings already refer to a condition specific nurse should a patient’s condition indicate that this is necessary. This will not alter under the community health nurse pilot.

NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that the findings of the review of specialist nursing roles being undertaken by its Health Directorate General will be published.

Nicola Sturgeon: In Scotland, under the auspices of the UK-wide Modernising Nursing Careers initiative, an advanced practice toolkit to identify the capabilities and competences of nurse practitioners at senior, advanced and consultant level, whether in a specialist or generalist setting, is under development. The toolkit which will be launched in autumn 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to issue guidance to NHS boards on managing sickness and absence rates.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government supports health boards in their management of staff sickness absence in a variety of ways.

  Foremost amongst these is a coordinated strategy to improve the health and wellbeing of the NHSScotland workforce. This includes the innovative occupational health project known as OHXtra which is currently being rolled out across health boards. Work to date includes a wellness monitoring toolkit, mental health employment support, case management support and campaigns to address the problem of violence and aggression. In addition, Partnership Information Network policies are currently being reviewed in partnership with trade unions.

  With regard to the management of sickness absence itself, attention is currently being directed at promoting and extending the use of existing good practice rather than issuing further guidance. There is much being done within NHSScotland that can be held up as models of best practice but we have to ensure that all areas, staff groups and levels of management are indeed following best practice consistently. The Scottish Government has conducted a stock take exercise to identify examples of good practice in the management of sickness absence and followed this up in November 2007 by issuing a compendium of the best examples to all health boards. This work will continue. A specialist group (The Promoting Attendance and Managing Sickness Absence Group) has been established at national level with membership from NHS management, trade unions and the Scottish Government and has within its remit responsibility to identify, disseminate and promote good practice.

  Health boards produce attendance management plans and are required to demonstrate publicly through the annual review process and in their local delivery plans, that the issue has ownership at top management level and is being actively addressed.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken any comparisons between sickness and absence rates in NHS boards and in other public sector organisations in the areas covered by boards.

Nicola Sturgeon: Sickness Absence rates for each of Scotland’s 22 health boards are monitored and reported on regularly. Rates are currently falling and the most recent data shows an average rate for NHSScotland in March 2008 of 5.08%.

  More detailed analysis, for example by staff group or by type of absence is carried out for particular purposes but this is not collated centrally.

  A single system for measuring sickness absence has been applied within NHS Scotland only since April 2005, before which different approaches to calculating sickness absence were taken within individual boards.

  We need to be cautious about making comparisons with reported rates for other organisations. NHS Scotland has its own system which expresses total hours lost due to sickness as a percentage of total available hours and we have specific definitions for each of these which may not correspond with those used by other organisations. In a 24/7 organisation we need to be careful about when periods of absence start and finish. Whilst it is possible to compare NHS Scotland rates with those of other organisations we must always remember that we are not necessarily comparing like with like. This is the case even with the NHS in the rest of the UK where there are different processes for recording and reporting on sickness absence.

  The important thing is that we have a reliable and consistent measure within NHS Scotland which we can use to monitor and report on progress.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken any analysis of sickness and absence rates in NHS boards and how these compare with local deprivation statistics.

Nicola Sturgeon: Sickness Absence rates for each of Scotland’s 22 health boards are monitored and reported on regularly. Yearly rates are available at:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFA07.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Some health boards have expressed an interest in carrying out more detailed analysis of the relationship at local level between postcode areas and sickness absence rates. This would allow possible correlations with deprivation statistics to be examined and is something that the Scottish Government might well support through the Promoting Attendance and Managing Sickness Absence group.

  The position at present, however, is that comparisons between NHS sickness absence rates and local deprivation statistics are not available.

Nuclear Power

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on findings of recent studies in Germany and the United States showing that children are at least 14% to 21% more likely to have leukaemia if they live near to a nuclear power plant.

Nicola Sturgeon: The latest authoritative study for the UK on this matter, was the 10th Report of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, published in June 2005, on The incidence of childhood cancer around nuclear installations in Great Britain. This study concluded that there was no evidence of excess numbers of cases in any local 25km area around any of the nuclear power stations.

Police

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many officers from Strathclyde Police Force assisted Greater Manchester Police in policing the events of 14 May 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constables of Greater Manchester and Strathclyde Police.

Police

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what liaison and intelligence discussions took place between Strathclyde Police and Greater Manchester Police prior to and during the incidents in Manchester on 14 May 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: Strathclyde Police and Greater Manchester Police established a working relationship prior to the UEFA Cup Final in Glasgow in 2007. This was strengthened in the intervening period, with regular dialogue covering intelligence and all aspects of policing a high-profile football event.

Police

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions took place with the National Football Intelligence Unit and Scottish police forces prior to and on 14 May 2008 in respect of UEFA Cup final in Manchester.

Kenny MacAskill: Regular discussions take place between the Scottish Police Service and the National Football Intelligence Unit and reports of any adverse behaviour of football supporters at any domestic, European or international game are submitted to the National Football Intelligence Unit.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many football banning orders have been implemented since 1 September 2006.

Kenny MacAskill: A total of 18 football banning orders have been issued on conviction, and two on summary application since 1 September 2006.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many football banning orders have been implemented since 3 May 2007.

Kenny MacAskill: A total of 18 football banning orders have been issued on conviction, and one on summary application, since 3 May 2007.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to work with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to ensure that football banning orders are increasingly used by the courts as an appropriate penalty for violent and disorderly football fans.

Kenny MacAskill: We have established a Football Banning Orders Monitoring Group, on which the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Court Service are represented.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing to the Football Banning Orders Unit.

Kenny MacAskill: Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with the Football Banning Orders Unit and the unit is represented on the Football Banning Orders Monitoring Group.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many football banning orders have been applied to people convicted of racist or sectarian behaviour.

Kenny MacAskill: One football banning order has been issued in relation to sectarian behaviour and two have been issued in relation to racist behaviour.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many awareness campaigns have been run highlighting the existence of football banning orders since 1 September 2006 and when these campaigns took place.

Kenny MacAskill: The "Straight Red" Campaign took place from 19 August 2006 until 11 March 2007.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations have been made to close the loophole in legislation in respect of cross-border football banning orders.

Kenny MacAskill: We are working closely with the UK Government to close the loophole in legislation in respect of cross-border football banning orders. Legislation in the Westminster Parliament is required to close this gap and I have written to the Home Secretary requesting confirmation of when this legislation will be enacted. We will support the UK Government in promoting this legislation and shall, at the earliest opportunity, bring forward a legislative consent motion in the Scottish Parliament to enable football banning orders to be recognised and enforceable across the United Kingdom.

Police

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the loophole in legislation in respect of cross-border football banning orders will be closed.

Kenny MacAskill: I have written to the Home Secretary on football banning orders and one of the issues I raised was when legislation to close this loophole is likely to be enacted.

Police

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12917 by Kenny MacAskill on 20 May 2008, how much grant-in-aid it has allocated to the Scottish Police Services Authority for (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Police Services Authority has been allocated grant-in-aid of £83.6 million in 2008-09. It has also been given a provisional allocation of £84.2 million in 2009-10 and £84.7 million in 2010-11 but these figures should be considered to be indicative only at this stage. The figures provided exclude provision for police information and communication technology services as the transfer amount from police local authority funding has yet to be determined.

Police

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to the Scottish Police Services Authority from 2007 for the Scottish Police College.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Police College is one of the police support services provided by the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA). Since its establishment on 1 April 2007, the SPSA has been funded through grant-in-aid from the Scottish Government and was allocated £83 million in 2007-08 and £83.6 million in 2008-09. The breakdown of budgets between the individual services it provides is an operational matter for SPSA.

Poverty

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing or the Minister for Communities and Sport last met local authorities to discuss poverty and social justice.

Stewart Maxwell: Both I and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing have met with representatives of COSLA on a number of occasions to discuss matters relevant to poverty and social justice, including housing, health inequalities and the new Fairer Scotland Fund.

  Moreover, Scottish Government officials meet regularly with COSLA representatives to discuss the Government’s approach to tackling poverty, deprivation and inequality. COSLA are full partners in the development of our new Anti-Poverty Framework due for publication later this year, and our officials discussed that with the COSLA anti-poverty officers group on 21 May.

Procurement

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish national performance indicators for public procurement, as recommended by The Review of Public Procurement in Scotland.

John Swinney: The first set of national best practice indicators (BPIs) for public procurement in Scotland will be published today. The project is a significant step forward in the procurement reform programme and will be rolled out across the wider public sector.

  The BPIs were developed by a working group with representation from all parts of the public sector, including local authorities, health, higher education/further education and government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The project will encourage procurement teams within public sector organisations to focus on the priority areas of efficiency, collaboration, compliance, skills and e-procurement with a view to delivering improved value for money and supporting more efficient, effective and coordinated service delivery.

  Copies are available at www.scotland.gov.uk/BPIprocurementsummary.

Public Transport

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the location of the Gogar rail and tram station to indirectly serve Edinburgh Airport.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government will announce the location of a new railway station in the Gogar area following completion of the necessary studies, stakeholder engagement and commercial discussions. It is expected an announcement will be made later this financial year.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs will be of leasing the additional rolling stock required for the enhanced services announced as part of the extension of the Scotrail franchise and how these will be met.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11778 on 1 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why the decision to consider the terms of the extension to the Scotrail franchise was taken prior to the completion of the consultation on the National Planning Framework.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the ministerial statement I gave in the Parliament on 17 April 2008 and to the answer to question S3O-2916 on 17 April 2008. The statement and Oral Question can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor0417-01.htm.

Rail Network

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which consultants were used during the ScotRail franchise extension negotiation process and how much they were paid.

Stewart Stevenson: Ernst and Young LLP and Brodies LLP carried out relevant financial and legal consultancy work during the ScotRail franchise extension negotiation process. The total cost for this work was £192,908.

Rural Development

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership will be of each of the regional proposal assessment committees set up to assess applications to the Rural Development Contracts - Rural Priorities section of the Scottish Rural Development Plan.

Richard Lochhead: The Regional Proposal Assessment Committees (RPACs) are made up of a range of local public officials selected on the basis of the relevant expertise required to assess the types of applications being submitted via the Rural Development Contracts – Rural Priorities element of the Scotland Rural Development Plan.

  The core membership is made up of local staff from Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SGRPID), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) as the three main funders of the Programme, along with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) as a key regulator of the sector. Enterprise or business expertise is contributed by economic development staff from local authorities or from the Enterprise network.

  Other public officials may be asked to attend or contribute to RPAC meetings in relation to specific applications which require more specialist expertise.

Shipbuilding

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with representatives of the UK Government anent the regeneration of commercial shipbuilding in Scotland.

Jim Mather: Scottish ministers are in regular contact with their counterparts in the UK Government and work to promote and support the commercial shipbuilding industry in Scotland. Most recently this has involved extensive engagement with MoD ministers around the aircraft carriers contract signing and the military afloat reach and sustainability vessels. I have on-going engagement with leading companies in the sector and further engagement is also in hand. There have however been no recent specific ministerial discussions with the UK Government regarding the regeneration of commercial shipbuilding in Scotland.